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GENERAL GRANT'S LETTERS 



*- 



\ 



GENERAL GRANT'S 

betters 

TO A FRIEND 
1861-1880 



With Introduction and Notes by 
JAMES GRANT WILSON 
Author of "Life of Grant," 
" Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers," 
"Bryant and his Friends" -tc. 




T. Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 

Jfteto gorfc antr Boston 

MDCCCXCVII 




Copyright 1897, by Thomas Y. Crtnvell & Company 



Dedicated by the Editor 
to 

S@r. i£>emp0teao mwbbutm 

to whose courtesy 

the possessors of this Volume 

are indebted for the privilege of reading 

the Letters addressed to his Father 

by 

General Grant 



Jjntrotmctton 



PERHAPS no other person not connected 
with the military service contributed in 
so great a degree to General Grant's suc- 
cess in the American Civil War of 1861-1865, 
as the Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, to whom the 
following forty-eight letters and parts of let- 
ters were addressed, during a period of nineteen 
years. Beginning in the first year of the war 
the correspondence was continued uninter- 
ruptedly until after the close of Grant's second 
administration and his return from the ex- 
tended tour around the world. The letters are 
certainly of no inconsiderable historical value, 
being dated in many instances from such fa- 
mous battle-fields as Fort Donelson, Shiloh, 
Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and the Wilderness, 
and revealing in an interesting manner many 
of the strongest and most admirable traits of 
General Grant's character. These private com- 
munications contain his views upon men and 
affairs in the western hemisphere, as well as in 
many of the foreign lands which he visited. His 



Vll 



comments upon the character and result of 
British rule in India, and upon the progressive 
spirit of the Japanese, will be perused with spe- 
cial interest. 

All but three of the letters contained in this 
collection are of a strictly personal character, 
the exceptions being Grant's official communi- 
cations of January 23, 1862, November- 13, 
1863, and July 19, 1864, addressed to Mr. 
Washburne, Secretary Stanton, and President 
Lincoln. These were found among the Gen- 
eral's two score and seven private letters. A por- 
tion of these, relating to the war, appeared in 
the Life of Grant (Great Commanders Series), 
while some of the others were published in the 
numbers of the North American Review, for 
July and August, 1897. 

Elihu Benjamin Washburne (18 16-1887) was 
a member of Congress from Illinois, where 
(Galena) at the commencement of the war, 
Grant was employed as a clerk. The two men 
first met at that time: they immediately be- 
came friends, and during the four years' conflict 
Washburne was the constant supporter and 
sturdy defender, in Congress and elsewhere, of 
the silent commander, who would never vindi- 



vni 



cate himself from the shameful charges that 
were constantly brought both against his pri- 
vate character, and also against his conduct as a 
soldier. When in 1869 Grant became President 
of the United States, he appointed Mr. Wash- 
burne his Secretary of State, who after occupy- 
ing that high office for a few weeks was sent 
as the American representative to France. He 
filled that position with pre-eminent ability, 
courage and distinction, publishing after his re- 
turn to Illinois " Recollections of a Minister 
to France, 1869- 1877," a very valuable illus- 
trated work in two octavo volumes. 
"The supremacy of Grant among American 
soldiers is secure," said General Sherman to the 
writer, at their last meeting, a few weeks be- 
fore his death. Whatever judgment history may 
ultimately pass upon Grant, it may be safely 
predicted that among Americans, Washington 
and Lincoln alone will be placed above him. 
Gladstone, in a letter dated July, 1897, refer- 
ring to a comparison drawn by the editor, be- 
tween Washington and Grant, says, " America 
is a happy country if she can produce even a 
few men worthy to be named as approaching to 
the excellence of Washington." 



IX 



One comfort is that great men taken up 
in any way are profitable company. JVe 
cannot look^ however imperfeclly^ upon a 
great man without gaining something 
by it. He is the living fountain of life 
which it is pleasant to be near. On any 
terms whatsoever you will not grudge to 
wander in his neighborhood for a while. 

THOMAS CARLYLE. 



better t 



Cairo^ Illinois^ 
September 3, 1 86 1. 

YOUR very kind letter was received at 
Jefferson City, and would have been 
answered at once but for the remark 
that you were about to start for New York 
city and would not receive it for some days. 
I should be most pleased to have you pay me 
the visit here, or wherever I may be, that you 
spoke of paying me there. 
In regard to the appointment of Mr. Rawlins, 1 
I never had an idea of withdrawing it so long 
as he felt disposed to accept, no matter how 
long his absence. Mr. Rawlins was the first 
one I decided upon for a place with me, and 
I very much regret that family affliction has 
kept him away so long. The past would have 
been a good school of instruction for him in 
his new duties ; the future bids fair to try the 
backbone of our volunteers. I have been kept 
actively moving from one command to another, 
more so perhaps than any other officer. So long 



as I am of service to the cause of our country 
I do not object, however. 
General Fremont has seen fit to intrust me 
with an important command here, my com- 
mand embracing all the troops in southeast 
Missouri and at this place. A little difficulty 
of an unpleasant nature has occurred between 
General Prentiss and myself relative to rank, 
he refusing to obey my orders ; but it is to be 
hoped that he will see his error, and not sacri- 
fice the interest of the cause to his ambition 
to be senior brigadier general of Illinois, as he 
contends he is. 

In conclusion, Mr. Washburne, allow me to 
thank you for the part you have taken in giv- 
ing me my present position. I think I see your 
hand in it, and admit that I had no personal 
claims for your kind office in the matter. I 
can assure you, however, my whole heart is 
in the cause which we are fighting for, and I 
pledge myself that, if equal to the task before 
me, you shall never have cause to regret the 
part you have taken. 



better it 



Head-Quarters District of Cairo, 
Cairo, January 23, 1862. 

THE bearer, Captain A. S. Baxter, 2 who 
goes to Washington by my order, in 
hopes of doing something for the relief 
of this much distressed portion of our Army, is 
at present my District Quartermaster. 
I am at last satisfied that I have an efficient 
and faithful servant pf the Government in 
Captain Baxter, and anything that you can do 
to further the object of his mission will not 
only be regarded as a personal favor to myself, 
but will serve to advance the cause you and I 
both have so much at heart. 
Captain Baxter can tell you of the great abuses 
in his Department here and the efforts I have 
put forth to correct them, and consequently the 
number of secret enemies necessarily made. I am 
desirous of retaining Captain Baxter in his pres- 
ent position, and if promotion to a higher grade 
is necessary to enable me to do so, I would very 
much desire that the promotion be given. 



JUttet tit 



Fort 'Donelson^ Tennessee^ 
February 21, 1862. 

INCE receiving your letter at Fort 
Henry events have transpired so rapidly 
that I have scarcely had time to write 
a private letter. That portion of your letter 
which required immediate attention was re- 
plied to as soon as your letter was read. I mean 
that I telegraphed Colonel C. C. Washburn,3 
Milwaukee, Wis., asking him to accept a place 
on my staff. As he has not yet arrived, I fear 
my dispatch was not received. Will you be 
kind enough to say to him that such a dispatch 
was sent, and that I will be most happy to 
publish the order the moment he arrives, as- 
signing him the position you ask. 
On the 13th, 14th, and 15th our volunteers 
fought a battle that would figure well with 
many of those fought in Europe, where large 
standing armies are maintained. I feel very 
grateful to you for having placed me in the 
position to have had the honor of commanding 



such an army and at such a time. I only trust 
that I have not nor will not disappoint you. 
The effect upon the community here is very 
marked since the battle. Defeat, disastrous de- 
feat, is admitted. Yesterday I went to Clarkes- 
ville* with a small escort, two of our gunboats 
having preceded me. Our forces now occupy 
that place, and will take possession of a large 
amount of commissary stores, ammunition, and 
some artillery. The road to Nashville is now 
cle&, but whether my destination will be there 
or farther west can't yet be told. I want to 
move early, and no doubt will. 



better to 



Savannah, Tennessee^ 
31 'arch 22, 1862. 

Y7 HAVE received two or three letters from 
I you which I have not answered, because 
Li at the time they were received I was un- 
well and busy, and either your brother or Row- 
ley were about writing. I am now gett'ng 
nearb well and ready for any emergency t>at 
may arise. A severe contest may be looked or 
in this quarter before many weeks, but of the 
result feel no alarm. 

There are some things which I wish to say tc 
you in my own vindication, not that I care one 
straw for what is said individually, but because 
you have taken so much interest in my welfare 
that I think you are fairly entitled to all facts 
connected with my acts. 

I see by the papers that I am charged with giv- 
ing up a certain number of slaves captured at 
Fort Donelson. My published order on the 
occasion shows that citizens were not per- 
mitted to pass through our camps to look for 



their slaves. There were some six or seven ne- 
groes at Donelson, who represented that they 
had been brought from Kentucky to work for 
officers, and had been kept a number of months 
without receiving pay. They expressed great 
anxiety to get back to their families, and pro- 
tested that they were free men. These I let go, 
and none others. I have studiously tried to 
prevent the running off of negroes from all 
outside places, as I have tried to prevent all 
other marauding and plundering. 
So long as I hold a commission in the ar hy I 
have no views of my own to carry out. What- 
ever may be the orders of my superiors and 
law I will execute. No man can be efficient as 
a commander who sets his own notions above 
law and those whom he has sworn to obey. 
When Congress enacts anything too odious for 
me to execute, I will resign. 
I see the credit of attacking the enemy by the 
way of the Tennessee and Cumberland is va- 
riously attributed. It is little to talk about it 
being the great wisdom of any general that 
first brought forth this plan of attack. Our gun- 
boats were running up the Tennessee and 
Cumberland Rivers all fall and winter watch- 



ing the progress of the rebels on these works. 
General Halleck no doubt thought of this 
route long ago, and I am sure I did. As to 
how the battles should be fought, both Mc- 
Clellan and Halleck are too much of soldiers to 
suppose that they can plan how that should be 
done at a distance. This would presuppose that 
the enemy would make just the moves laid 
down for them. It would be a game of chess, 
the right hand against the left, determining 
beforehand that the right should win. The job 
being an important one, neither of the above 
generals would have intrusted it to an officer 
whom they had not confidence in. So far I was 
highly complimented by both. 
After getting into Donelson General Halleck 
did not hear from me for near two weeks. It 
was about the same time before I heard from 
him. I was writing every day, and sometimes 
as often as three times a day. Reported every 
move and change, the condition of my troops, 
etc. Not getting these, General Halleck very 
justly became dissatisfied, and was, as I have 
since learned, sending me daily reprimands. 
Not receiving them, they lost their sting. 
When one did reach me, not seeing the justice 



8 



of it, I retorted, and asked to be relieved. Three 
telegrams passed in this way, each time ending 
by my requesting to be relieved. All is now un- 
derstood, however, and I feel assured that Gen- 
eral Halleck is fully satisfied. In fa&, he wrote 
me a letter saying that I could not be relieved, 
and otherwise quite complimentary. 
I will not tire you with a longer ietter, but as- 
sure you again that you shall not be disappointed 
in me if it is in my power to prevent it. 



%xtttx * 



Camp near Corinth, Mississippi, 
May 14, 1862. 

THE great number of attacks made up- 
on me by the press of the country is 
my apology for not writing to you 
oftener, not desiring to give any contradiction 
to them myself. You have interested yourself 
so much as my friend that should I say any- 
thing it would probably be made use of in my 
behalf. I would scorn being my own defender 
against such attacks except through the record 
which has been kept of all my official a&s, and 
which can be examined at Washington at any 
time. To say that I have not been distressed 
at these attacks upon me would be false, for I 
have a father, mother, wife, and children who 
read them, and are distressed by them, and I 
necessarily share with them in it. Then, too, 
all subject to my orders read these charges, 
and it is calculated to weaken their confidence 
in me and weaken my ability to render effi- 
cient service in our present cause 5 One thing 



10 



I will assure you of, however, — I can not be 
driven from rendering the best service within 
my ability to suppress the present rebellion, 
and, when it is over, retiring to the same quiet 
it, the rebellion, found me enjoying. Notoriety 
has no charms for me, and could I render the 
same services that I hope it has been my for- 
tune to render our just cause without being 
known in the matter, it would be infinitely 
preferable to me. 

Those people who expect a field of battle to 
be maintained for a whole day with about thirty 
thousand troops, most of them entirely raw, 
against fifty thousand, as was the case at Pitts- 
burg Landing while waiting for re-enforce- 
ments to come up, without loss of life, know 
little of war. To have left the field of Pitts- 
burg for the enemy to occupy until our force 
was sufficient to have gained a bloodless victory 
would have been to leave the Tennessee to be- 
come a second Potomac. There was nothing 
left for me but to occupy the west bank of the 
Tennessee and to hold it at all hazards. It 
would have set this war back six months to 
have failed, and would have caused the neces- 
sity of raising, as it were, a new army. 



ii 



Looking back at the past, I can not see for the 
life of me any important point that could be 
corrected. Many persons who have visited the 
different fields of battle may have gone away 
displeased because they were not permitted to 
carry off horses, fire arms, or other valuables 
as trophies. But they are no patriots who would 
base their enmity on such grounds. Such, I 
assure you, are the grounds of many bitter 
words that have been said against me by per- 
sons who at this day would not know me by 
sight, yet profess to speak from a personal 
acquaintance. 

I am sorry to write such a letter, infinitely 
sorry that there should be grounds for it. My 
own justification does not demand it, but you 
are entitled to know my feelings. As a friend I 
would be pleased to give you a record weekly 
at furthest of all that transpires in that portion 
of the army that I am or may be connected 
with, but not to make public use of. . . . 



12 



better tri 



Camp near Corinth, Mississippi, 
June I, 1862. 

T7N CLOSED I send a letter addressed to 
I the Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of 
Al War, which I would be pleased if you 
would cause to be delivered with any recom- 
mendation that you may deem proper. Lieu- 
tant Dickey is the son of Col. Dickey of the 
Fourth Illinois Cavalry, and brother-in-law of 
the late General W. H. L. Wallace, who fell 
at the battle of Shiloh. Although Lieutenant 
Dickey has served under my command almost 
from his first entrance into service, I can not 
answer from personal knowledge as to his 
qualifications; but General Judah, who recom- 
mends him, is an experienced officer, and fully 
qualified to judge of his merits. 
The siege of Corinth has at last terminated. 
On Friday morning it was found that the last 
rebel had left during the preceding night. On 
entering the enemy's intrenchments, it was dis- 
covered that they had succeeded in taking off 



13 



or destroying nearly everything of value. Gen- 
eral Pope is now in full pursuit of the retreat- 
ing foe, and I think will succeed in capturing 
and dispersing many of them. There will be 
much unjust criticism of this affair, but future 
effects will prove it a great victory. Not being 
in command, however, I will not give a his- 
tory of the battle in advance of official reports. 
I leave here in a day or two for Covington, 
Ky., on a short leave of absence. I may write 
you again from there if I do not visit Wash- 
ington in person. 



H 



1 



better W 



Corinth, Mississippi, 
June 19, 1862. 

YOUR letter of the 8th inst., addressed 
to me at Covington, Ky., has just 
reached me. At the time the one was 
written to which it is an answer I had leave to 
go home or to Covington, but General Halleck 
requested me to remain for a few days. After- 
ward when I spoke of going he asked that I 
should remain a little longer if my business was 
not of pressing importance. As I really had 
no business, and had not asked leave on such 
grounds, I told him so, and that if my services 
were required I would not go at all. This 
settled my leave for the present, and for the 
war. So long as my services are required I do not 
wish to leave. I am exceedingly obliged to you 
for the interest you have taken in the appoint- 
ment recommended by me, and also for the as- 
surance that the Secretary of War receives it 
with such favor. I will endeavor never to make 
a recommendation unsafe to accede to. 



15 



I shall leave here on the 21st for Memphis, 
where my headquarters will be located for the 
time being. Western Tennessee is fast being 
reduced to working order, and I think, with 
the introduction of the mails, trade, and the 
assurance that we can hold it, it will become 
loyal or, at least, law-abiding. It will not do, 
however, for our arms to meet with any great 
reverse and still expect this result. The masses 
this day are more disloyal in the South from 
fear of what might befall them in case of defeat 
to the Union cause than from any dislike to the 
Government. One week to them (after giving 
in their adhesion to our laws) would be worse 
under the so-called Confederate Government 
than a year of martial law administered by this 
army. It is hard to say what would be the most 
wise policy to pursue toward these people, but 
/for a soldier his duties are plain. He is to obey 
the orders of all those placed over him, and whip 
the enemy wherever he meets him. " If he can " 
should only be thought of after an unavoidable 
defeat. If you are acquainted with Senator Col- 
lamore of Vermont, I would be pleased if you 
would say to him that there is a young colonel 
in the Eleventh Illinois Regiment, a native of 



16 



his State, that I have taken a great interest in 
for his gallantry and worth. I mean Colonel 
Ransom. 6 He has now been wounded three 
times in separate engagements, but never 
showed a willingness to relinquish his com- 
mand until the day was decided, and always 
declines a leave to recover from his wounds 
lest something should transpire in his absence. 



17 



better tout 



La Grange^ Tennessee, 
November 7, 1862. 

NOT having much of special note to 
write you since your visit to Jackson, 
and knowing that you were fully en- 
gaged, I have not troubled you with a letter. 
I write now a little on selfish grounds. 
I see from the papers that Mr. Leonard Swett 
is to be called near the President in some ca- 
pacity. I believe him to be one of my bitterest 
enemies. The grounds of his enmity I sup- 
pose to be the course I pursued whilst at Cairo 
toward certain contractors and speculators who 
wished to make fortunes off of the soldiers and 
government, and in which he took much in- 
terest, whether a partner or not. 7 He called on 
me in regard to the rights of a post sutler for 
Cairo (an appointment not known to the law) 
whom he had appointed. Finding that I would 
regard him in the light of any other merchant 
who might set up there, that I would neither 
secure him a monopoly of the trade nor his pay 



18 









at the pay table for such as he might trust out, 
the sutler never made his appearance. If he did 
he never made himself known to me. 
In the case of some contracts that were given 
out for the supply of forage, they were given, 
if not to the very highest bidder, to far from 
the lowest, and full 30 per cent, higher than 
the articles could have been bought for at that 
time. Learning these facts, I immediately an- 
nulled the contracts. 

Quite a number of car-loads of grain and hay 
were brought to Cairo on these contracts, and 
a change of Quartermaster having taken place 
in the meantime the new Quartermaster would 
not receive them without my order, except at 
rates he could then get the same articles for 
from other parties. This I refused to give. The 
contractors then called on me, and tried to 
convince me that the obligation was binding, 
but finding me immovable in the matter, asked 
if General Allen's approval to the contract 
would not be sufficient. My reply was, in sub- 
stance, that General Allen was Chief Quar- 
termaster of the Department, and I could not 
control him. They immediately left me, and, 
thinking over the matter, it occurred to me 



19 



that they would go immediately to St. Louis 
and present their contract for approval without 
mentioning the objection I made to it. I then 
telegraphed to General Allen the facts, and 
put him on his guard against these men. For 
some reason, however, my dispatch did not 
reach St. Louis for two days. General Allen 
then replied to it, stating that those parties 
had been to him the day before, and knowing 
no objection to the contract he had approved 
it. 

The parties then returned to Cairo evidently 
thinking they had gained a great triumph. But 
there being no money to pay at that time, and 
because of the bad repute the Quartermaster's 
Department was in, they were afraid to take 
vouchers without my approval. They again 
called on me to secure this. My reply to them 
was that they had obtained their contract with- 
out my consent, had it approved against my 
sense of duty to the government, and they 
might go on and deliver their forage and get 
their pay in the same way. I would never ap- 
prove a voucher for them under that contract 
if they never got a cent. I hoped they would 
not. This forced them to abandon the contract 



20 



and to sell the forage already delivered for what 
it was worth. 

Mr. Swett took much interest in this matter 
and wrote me one or more letters on the sub- 
ject, rather offensive in their manner. These 
letters I have preserved, but they are locked up 
in Mr. Safford's safe in Cairo. I afterwards 
learned from undoubted authority that there 
was a combination of wealthy and influential 
citizens formed, at the beginning of this war, 
for the purpose of monopolizing the army con- 
tracts. One of their boasts was that they had 
sufficient influence to remove any general who 
did not please them. 

The modus operandi for getting contracts at a 
high rate, I suppose, was for a member of this 
association to put in bids commencing at as 
low rates as the articles could be furnished for, 
and after they were opened all would retire up 
to the highest one who was below any outside 
person and let him take it. In many instances 
probably they could buy off this one for a low 
figure by assuring him that he could not pos- 
sibly get the contract, for if he did not retire 
it would be held by the party below. 
You will see by the papers that I am on the 



21 



move. If troops are furnished me to keep open 
my lines of communication, there will be no 
delays in this department. Once at Grenada I 
can draw supplies from Memphis, and save our 
present very long line. 

I do not see my report of the battle of Iuka in 
print. As the papers in General Rosecrans's in- 
terest have so much misrepresented that affair, 
I would like to see it in print. I have no objec- 
tion to that or any other general being made a 
hero of by the press, but I do not want to see 
it at the expense of a meritorious portion of the 
army. I endeavored in that report to give a 
plain statement of facts, some of which I 
would never have mentioned had it not be- 
come necessary in defense of troops who have 
been with me in all, or nearly all, the battles 
where I have had the honor to command. I 
have never had a single regiment disgrace 
itself in battle yet, except some new ones at 
Shiloh that never loaded a musket before that 
battle. . . . 



22 



better ix 

Young's Pointy Mississippi^ 
March 10, 1863. 

NOW that Congress has adjourned, I 
have thought possible you might want 
to make a visit to this part of the 
country. I need not assure you that I would be 
most glad to see you here, and have you stay 
during the contest which will take place in the 
next thirty days from this writing. You will 
have time to join me if mails are prompt. The 
canal through would have been a success by to- 
day but for the great rise of water. The river 
is now several feet above the whole country 
hereabout, and our canal was dependent for its 
success upon keeping the water out of it. The 
upper dam has broken and submerged things 
generally. To stop this off will take a number 
of days, but we will do it. In the meantime, 
so far as I now know and have official reports 
the Yazoo Pass expedition is going to prove a 
perfect success. This is highly important if for 
no other purpose than to destroy the transpor- 



2 3 



tation and embyro gunboats the enemy had 
there. They have been working for one year 
on one boat of gigantic proportions up that 
stream. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, a young man of 
great merit, who has been put on General 
Hunter's staff, but who was on mine as a lieu- 
tenant, and I objected to relieving until the 
present campaign is over, writes to Rawlins 
in a private letter that our success in getting 
into Yazoo Pass is due to the energy of C. C. 
Washburn. He felt an interest in the enter- 
prise and took hold with a will, and with men 
worthy of the object to be accomplished. I 
have ordered the army corps of McPherson 
through that way with additional forces, mak- 
ing him effective men to the number of about 
twenty-eight thousand. McPherson is one of 
my best men, and is fully to be trusted. Sher- 
man stands in the same category. In these two 
men I have a host. They are worth more than 
a full brigade each. McPherson will effect a 
lodgment on the high lands on the Yazoo 
River east bank, and will co-operate with the 
troops from here. The class of transports adapt- 
ed to the pass being so limited, some delay 



will necessarily take place in getting them 
to their destination. I have sent up the river 
for all the small class of boats that can be 
got. 

We are going through a campaign here such as 
has not been heard of on this continent before. 
The soldiers see the position of the enemy in 
front of them, but I presume do not see how 
they are to attack. Their camp ground is sev- 
eral feet below water, held in its place by the 
levees. Constant rains falling keep the roads 
almost impassable. With all this the men are 
in good spirits, and feel confident of ultimate 
success. 

The health of this command is a subject that 
has been very much exaggerated by the press. 
I will venture the assertion that there is no 
army now in the field showing so large a pro- 
portion of those present with their commands 
being ready for duty. Really our troops are more 
healthy than could possibly have been expected, 
with all their trials. Although I have told you 
but little of plans here, it is more than I am in 
the habit of writing on this subject. You will 
excuse me, therefore, from saying how I ex- 
pect to co-operate with McPherson, at least 



25 



v.. 



until you come down. General Washburn will 
have command of a very important cavalry ex- 
pedition from the Yazoo River if all other 
plans succeed. . . 



26 



3Utter v 



Vicksburg, Mississippi, 
August 30, 1863. 

YOUR letter of the 8th of August, in- 
closing one from Senator Wilson 8 to 
you, reached here during my tempo- 
rary absence to the northern part of my com- 
mand ; hence my apparent delay in answering. 
I fully appreciate all Senator Wilson says , Had 
it not been for General Halleck and Dana,9 I 
think it altogether likely I would have been 
ordered to the Potomac. My going could do 
no possible good. They have there able officers 
who have been brought up with that army, and 
to import a commander to place over them 
certainly could produce no good. While I 
would not positively disobey an order, I would 
have objected most vehemently to taking that 
command or any other, except the one I have. 
I can do more with this army than it would 
be possible for me to do with any other with- 
out time to make the same acquaintance with 
others I have with this. I know that the sol- 



27 



diers of the Army of the Tennessee can be re- 
lied on to the fullest extent. I believe I know 
the exact capacity of every general in my com- 
mand to lead troops, and just where to place 
them to get from them their best services. 
This is a matter of no small importance. . . . 
The people of the North need not quarrel 
over the institution of slavery. What Vice- 
President Stephens acknowledges the corner- 
stone of the Confederacy is already knocked 
out. Slavery is already dead, and cannot be 
resurrected. It would take a standing army to 
maintain slavery in the South if we were to 
make peace to-day, guaranteeing to the South 
all their former constitutional privileges. I 
never was an abolitionist, not even what could 
be called antislavery, but I try to judge fairly 
and honestly, and it became patent to my 
mind early in the rebellion that the North 
and South could never live at peace with each 
other except as one nation, and that without 
slavery. As anxious as I am to see peace re- 
established, I would not, therefore, be willing 
to see any settlement until this question is for- 
ever settled. 
Rawlins and Maltby 10 have been appointed 



28 * 



brigadier-generals. These are richly deserved 
promotions. Rawlins especially is no ordinary 
man. The feet is, had he started in this war in 
the line instead of in the staff, there is every 
probability he would be to-day one of our shin- 
ing lights. As it is, he is better and more fa- 
vorably known than probably any other officer 
in the army who has filled only staff appoint- 
ments. Some men, too many of them, are only 
made by their staff appointments, while others 
give respectability to the position. Rawlins is 
of the latter class. . . . 



29 



^Letter jri 



Head-Quarters, 

Military Division of the Mississippi, 

Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 13, 1863. 

OME of the citizens of Northern Illi- 
nois have expressed the conviction that 
a regiment of cavalry can be raised in a 
short time from that section of the state if 
special authority be given the Governor to 
accept them, and have desired that I obtain 
the authority for them. I want no special favor 
for myself, and cannot ask the desired authority 
on that ground. If, however, it is the policy of 
the Government to accept new organizations, 
I would recommend that authority be given 
Governor Yates to accept a regiment of cavalry 
to be raised in Northern Illinois. 



Hon. E. M. Stanton, 

Secretary of War. 

30 



JUttet xii 



F 



Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
December 2, 1 863. 

OR the last three weeks I have not only 
been busy, but have had company occu- 
pying my room, making it almost impos- 
sible for me to write anything. Last week was 
a stirring time with us, and a magnificent vic- 
tory was won. I am sorry you could not be here. 
The spectacle was grand beyond anything that 
has been or is likely to be on this continent. It 
is the first battlefield I have ever seen where a 
plan could be followed and from one place the 
whole field be within one view. At the com- 
mencement the battle line was fifteen miles 
long. Hooker on our right soon carried the 
point of Lookout Mountain, and Sherman the 
north end of Missionary Ridge, thus shorten- 
ing the line by five or six miles and bringing 
the whole within one view. Our troops behaved 
most magnificently, and have inflicted on the 
enemy the heaviest blow they have received 
during the war. . . ." 



31 



iUttet viii 



Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
December 12, 1863. 

ALL is well with me. Everything looks 
bright and favorable in this command. 
I feel under many obligations to you 
for the interest you have taken in my welfare. 
But recollect that I have been highly honored 
already by the Government, and do not ask or 
feel that I deserve anything more in the shape 
of honors or promotions. A success over the 
enemy is what I crave above everything else, 
and desire to hold such an influence over those 
under my command as to enable me to use 
them to the best advantage to secure this end. 



32 



Uttttx jrtto 



Culpepper C. H. y Virginia^ 
May I, 1864. 

PLEASE permit me to call the attention 
of Congress, through you, to the fact 
that the law creating the grade of Lieu- 
tenant-General, and fixing the pay and allow- 
ances of staff officers serving with the Lieu- 
tenant-General, simply revived old laws. Under 
these his aides, with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel, receive only the pay and allowances 
of officers of their grade in the infantry. Under 
more recent Acts of Congress all other staff 
officers receive the pay and allowances of 
cavalry officers. Major-generals commanding 
army corps have four staff officers with the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel who receive cav- 
alry pay. It certainly never was contemplated 
that the staff of a higher grade and command 
should receive less pay. I hope that Congress 
will correct this. 



JUtter x\) 



Cold Harbor, Virginia, 
June 9, 1864. 

YOUR two letters inclosing orders pub- 
lished by Major-General Washburn 
have been received. I highly approve 
the course he is talcing, and am glad to see that 
General Slocum is pursuing a similar course 
about Vicksburg. I directed some days ago 
that the Sixteenth Corps staff should report to 
your brother. I recommend, however, that no 
commander be named for the Sixteenth Corps 
until Sherman is heard from, to know whether 
he would not prefer the consolidation of that 
portion of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps 
in the field into one corps, and that serving in 
garrison from these two corps into another. It 
makes but little difference, however, about this, 
for as soon as this campaign is over it is prob- 
able there will be a reconstruction of depart- 
ments and commands. 

.... Everything is progressing favorably, but 
slowly. All the fight, except defensive and be- 



34 



hind breastworks, is taken out of Lee's army. 
Unless my next move brings on a battle, the 
balance of the campaign will settle down to a 
siege. . . . 



35 



better jrtri 2 



Head-Quarters, Armies of the United States, 
City Point , Virginia, July 19, 1864. 

T7N my opinion there ought to be an imme- 
diate call for say 300,000 men to be put 
ii in the field in the shortest possible time. 
The presence of this number of reinforcements 
would save the annoyance of raids, and would 
enable us to drive the enemy back from his 
present front, particularly from Richmond, 
without attacking fortifications. The enemy 
now have their last men in the field. Every 
depletion of their army is an irreparable loss. 
Desertions from it are now rapid. With the 
prospect of large additions to our force these 
desertions would increase. The greater number 
of men we have, the shorter and less sanguinary 
will be the war. 

I give this entirely as my view and not in any 
spirit of dictation, always holding myself in 
readiness to use the material given me to the 
best advantage I know how. 

To A. Lincoln, President. 

36 



JUttet jftit 

City Pointy Virginia^ 
July 23, 1864. 

YOUR letter of the 17th, inclosing one 
from General Scott, is just received. I 
inclose to you my answer to the gen- 
eral, which please forward to him. All are well 
here, and buoyant and full of hope. I wish peo- 
ple North could be as hopeful as our troops who 
have to do the fighting are. I cannot write you 
what I expecT: to do here. That Maryland raid 
upset my plans, but I will make an attempt to 
do something before many days. . . . 



37 



better jrtrift 



City Pointy Virginia^ 
August 1 6, 1864. 

YOUR letter asking for autographs to 
send to Mrs. Adams, the wife of our 
Minister to England, was duly re- 
ceived. She had also sent to Mr. Dana for the 
same thing, and his requisition, he being with 
me at the time, was at once filled. I have di- 
rected Colonel Bowers to send with this a few 
of the original dispatches telegraphed from 
here. They have all been hastily written, and 
not with the expectation of ever being seen 
afterward, but will, I suppose, answer as well as 
anything else, or as if they had been written 
especially for the purpose of sending. . . . 
I state to all citizens who visit me that all we 
want now to insure an early restoration of the 
Union is a determined unity of sentiment 
North. The rebels have now in their ranks 
their last men. The little boys and old men are 
guarding prisoners, railroad bridges, and form- 
ing a good part of their garrisons for intrenched 



38 



positions. A man lost by them cannot be re- 
placed. They have robbed the cradle and the 
grave equally to get their present force. Be- 
sides what they lose in frequent skirmishes and 
battles, they are now losing from desertions 
and other causes at least one regiment per day. 
With this drain upon them the end is visible 
if we will but be true to ourselves. Their only 
hope now is in a divided North. This might 
give them reinforcements from Tennessee, 
Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, while it 
would weaken us. With the draft quietly en- 
forced, the enemy would become despondent, 
and would make but little resistance. 
I have no doubt but the enemy are exceedingly 
anxious to hold out until after the presidential 
election. They have many hopes from its ef- 
fects. They hope for a counter-revolution. 
They hope for the election of the peace can- 
didate. In fact:, like Micawber, they hope that 
something will turn up. Our peace friends, if 
they expect peace from separation, are much 
mistaken. It would be but the beginning of 
war, with thousands of Northern men joining 
the South because of the disgrace of our allowing 
separation. To have peace "on any terms" the 



39 



South would demand the restoration of their 
slaves already freed. They would demand in- 
demnity for losses sustained, and they would 
demand a treaty which would make the North 
slave-hunters for the South. They would de- 
mand pay or the restoration of every slave es- 
caping to the North. 



40 



%ztttx %ix 



City Pointy Virginia^ 
'December 23, 1864. 

V7 SEE some objections are raised to Meade's 
confirmation as major-general in the regu- 

11 lar army. What the objections are I do 
not know, and cannot therefore address myself 
to them. I am very sorry this should be so. 
General Meade is one of our truest men and 
ablest officers. He has been constantly with 
that army, confronting the strongest, best-ap- 
pointed, and most confident army in the South. 
He therefore has not had the same opportunity 
of winning laurels so distinctively marked as 
have fallen to the lot of other generals. But I 
defy any one to name a commander who could 
do more than he has done with the same 
chances. I am satisfied that with a full knowl- 
edge of the man, what he has done, and the cir- 
cumstances attending all his military acts, all 
objections would be removed. I wrote a letter 
to Senator Wilson to-day in his behalf which I 
hope will have some weight. If you can put in 



4i 



a word with some of the other Senators, par- 
ticularly those who oppose his confirmation, 
and are willing to do it, I will feel much 
obliged. 



42 



3Utter xx 

City Point, Virginia, 
January 24, 1865. 

YOUR letter announcing the comple- 
tion of the medal x 3 was duly received, 
and not answered because I expe&ed 
to be in Washington about as early as a letter 
would get there. I did go, but not as early by 
a day or two as I expected, and then was in such 
haste that I saw no one out of the War and 
my own office. I can hardly say when I will be 
up again. Not for a week or two probably. I do 
not want the medal here, where there would be 
such danger of losing it. You can therefore keep 
it where you deem best until I am ready to take 
charge of it. . . . 

We have had quite an exciting time here since 
3 a. m. to-day. The heavy freshet we have 
been having the last few days has washed away 
some of our obstruaions in the James. About 
that hour four of the enemy's gunboats started 
down the river, and one or two of them a&u- 
ally passed the obstruaions. Providence seemed 



43 



to be on our side. Our navy certainly was not. 
Notwithstanding several days' notice had been 
given, not a single preparation seemed to have 
been made to receive such a visit. Fortunately, 
however, two of the enemy's boats grounded 
near the Howlett House, and those that had 
passed down turned back. Two of the enemy's 
boats were sunk and one disabled. The two 
aground were well pummeled for several hours, 
and must both of them have been injured, 
though the report I get is : Two sunk, one 
disabled. This was all done from land batteries. 
The naval force left here is not adequate to 
the work with the obstructions removed. I 
hope, however, to have all right. We have all 
been very busy since the 3d, and will have 
everything right before there is any let up. 



JLetter xvi 



City Point, Virginia, 
February 23, 1865. 

T7NCLOSED I send you a letter just re- 
j ceived from Colonel Duff, late of my 
LX staff. I should be delighted if an a£t should 
pass Congress giving the commander of the 
army a "chief of staff " with the rank of brig- 
adier-general in the regular army. It is nec- 
essary to have such an officer, and I see no 
reason why the law should not give it. It 
would also reward an officer who has won more 
deserved reputation in this war than any other 
who has acled throughout purely as a staff* 
officer. I write to you instead of to Duff, 
knowing your personal friendship for Rawlins 
as well as myself, and because you are in a 
place to help the thing along if you think well 
of it. 

Mrs. Grant will not be in Washington to at- 
tend the inauguration, but will be returning 
North soon after. She would like Mrs. W. to 
make her a long visit, if she can, before she re- 



45 



turns West. Can you not make a run down 
here and bring Mrs. Washburn with you ? 
Everything looks like dissolution in the South. 
A few days more of success with Sherman will 
put us where we can crow loud. 



+ 6 



JUtter mi 



Washington^ D. C, 
May 21, 1865. 

T7 HAVE just received your letter of the 
1 8th. It has never been my intention to 
il give up Illinois as my home. The house 
in Philadelphia was presented to me, I believe, 
entirely by the Union League of that city. I 
was not aware the project was under way un- 
til the money for the purchase was mostly sub- 
scribed, and then I did not know the parties 
interesting themselves in the matter. I had 
selected Philadelphia as a place for my family, 
where the children could have good schools 
and be near, so that I might see them when- 
ever I had a leisure day. 
It would look egotistical to make a parade in 
the papers about where I intend to claim as 
my home, but I will endeavor to be in Galena 
at the next election and vote there, and declare 
my intention of claiming that as my home and 
intention of never casting a vote elsewhere 
without first giving notice. 



47 



I feel very grateful to the citizens of Illinois 
generally, and to those of Jo Daveiss County 
and yourself in particular, for the uniform sup- 
port I have received from that quarter. With- 
out that support it would now matter but lit- 
tle where I might claim a residence. I might 
write a letter to Mr. Stuart, 1 * chairman of the 
Christian Commission, and the most active 
member of the Union League of Philadelphia, 
in getting up the subscription for my house, 
stating what I owe to the State of Illinois, and 
that he and his friends must not think hard of 
me for holding on to Galena as my home. 
I will hear from you again before doing any- 
thing in this matter. At present I am keeping 
house in Georgetown, and have my family with 
me. Neither they nor I will be in Philadelphia 
again, unless it be for a few days, before fall. 



4 8 



itetter xxiii 



Washington^ D. C, 
November 9, 1 865. 

SWILL be in my new house by Christmas. 
Without furnishing the fourth story I will 
have abundance of room for myself and 
friends. If Mrs. Washburn comes on to visit 
Washington this winter, bring her to our house. 
I shall visit New York City a few days next 
week to close up the papers on my house pur- 
chase, and when I return go South on an in- 
spection tour. Once back from that I shall 
square down for hard work as long as Congress 
is in session. . . . 



49 



JUtter xx?o 



Head-Quarters^ Armies of the United States^ 
August 1 6, 1866. 

T7 INCLOSE you a letter from Sherman on 
the subject of Atchison's appointment on 
LI his staff, and also an extract from a semi- 
official letter of a subsequent date on the same 
subject. Sherman feels every disposition to ac- 
commodate both you and me. But it is a hard 
test to ask a man to dismiss a staff officer who 
has been with him through the war, and who 
he likes, to take one who has done no service 
with him. I do not know that McCoy or Day- 
ton have received commissions in the regular 
army. If they have not, or do not, they will 
not be eligible for their staff positions long. 
Campbell has invited me to be present in Ga- 
lena on the 9th of November. This date seems 
to be fixed with the view of having me there 
at the election. I have no objection to being 
in Galena at that time, but do not think it 
proper for an army officer, particularly the 
army commander, to take part in elections. 



50 



Your friendship for me has been such that I 
should not hesitate to support you for personal 
reasons, on the ground that there is no one 
who cannot recognize great acts of friendship. 



5i 



JLetter jcjrt) 



Washington^ D. C, 
March 4, 1867. 

YOUR telegraphic dispatch in favor of 
the confirmation of General Dix,^ 
also your letter, partly on the same 
subject, were duly received. I lost no time in 
communicating the substance of your dispatch 
to as many Senators as I could. I am glad to 
be able to announce to you this morning a fa& 
which you will, no doubt, learn by telegraph 
long before this reaches you, that the Senate 
has confirmed him. 

Reconstruction measures have passed both 
houses of Congress over one of the most ridi- 
culous veto messages that ever emanated from 
any President. 16 Jerry Black 1 ? is supposed to be 
the author of it. He has been about Washing- 
ton for some time, and I am told has been a 
great deal about the White House. It is a fit- 
ting end to all our controversy (I believe this 
last measure is to be a solution unless the Presi- 
dent proves an obstruction) that the man who 



52 



tried to prove, at the beginning of our domestic 
difficulties, that the nation had no constitutional 
power to save itself is now trying to prove that 
the nation has not now the power, after a vic- 
tory, to demand security for the future. I hope 
you will see this message, Reverdy Johnson's 
remarks, and Governor Brown's (of Georgia) 
letter, and contrast the two latter with the 
former. 

I am sorry to learn from your letter that your 
health has not improved. I thought that free- 
dom from care, with the witticisms of Jones, 
would cure you. I hope it will yet have that 
effect. 

I see no chance of getting abroad this year. Do 
not show what I have said on political matters 
to any one. It is not proper that a subordinate 
should criticise the acts of his superiors in a 
public manner. I rely upon our personal rela- 
tions, however, to speak to you freely as I feel 
upon all important matters. 
Give my kindest regards to Jones. Tell him 
not to fail to keep his journal up, ready for pub- 
lication on his return. I rely on the proceeds 
of the sale of that journal to save the earnings 
of our horse rail road to go into the hands of 



53 



the stockholders. You know Jones must be 
supported, and the horse concern is a "bird in 
hand." Hoping to hear soon from you again, 
and that your health is much improved, I re- 
main, as ever, your friend 



54 



i 



better jcjrtjf 



Washington, D. C, 
April 5, 1867. 

VERYTHING is getting on well here 
under the Congressional Reconstruction 
Bill, and all will be well if administra- 
tion and copperhead influence do not defeat 
the objects of that measure. So far there has 
been no absolute interference with the acts of 
district commanders, all of whom are carrying 
out the measures of Congress according to the 
spirit of their acts, but much dissatisfaction has 
been expressed at Sheridan's removal of the 
New Orleans civil officers. Sheridan has given 
public satisfaction, however. In his private ca- 
pacity he shows himself the same fearless, true 
man that he did in the field. He makes no 
mistakes. 

I see no possible chance of getting abroad this 
year. I am not egotistical enough to suppose 
that my duties cannot be performed by others 
just as well as myself, but Congress has made 
it my duty to perform certain offices, and whilst 



55 



there is an antagonism between the executive 
and legislative branches of the Government, 
I feel the same obligation to stand at my post 
that I did whilst there were rebel armies in 
the field to contend with. . . 



56 



JUtter xv*ii 



Galena, Illinois, 
September 23, 1868. 

Y7 AM glad to see Congress found it expe- 
dient to adjourn without further legisla- 
*-i tion. I feared the effect: of legislation at 
this time, and then, too, if Congress had re- 
mained in session it would prevent Andrew 
Johnson from taking his proposed trip to East 
Tennessee. I have as much affection for him 
as Frank Blair had for the " Fennigans," and 
would go just as far as Frank would go to see 
him off, and would hold out every inducement 
to have him remain. 

My time passes very pleasantly and quietly here, 
and I have determined to remain until some 
time after the October elections. I will aim to be 
in Washington a few, but a few, days before the 
November election. There is nothing partic- 
ularly stirring occurring here. A person would 
not know there was a canvass going on if it were 
not for the accounts we read in the papers of 
great gatherings all over the country. 



57 



Please remember me to Mr. Alexander T. 
Stewart, Mr. Moses H. Grinnell, and Mr. 
William E. Dodge, who all have taken great 
interest in my welfare, even before they knew 
me personally. The same might be said of hosts 
of other New Yorkers, but the names of all 
cannot be enumerated in a single letter. 



58 



better jcjfoiti 



Washington, D. C. y 
March II, 1869. 

YOUR resignation of the office of Sec- 
retary of State, with reasons for the 
same, is received. In accepting it I do 
so with regret that your health will not per- 
mit you to continue in the office or in some 
Cabinet position. 18 Our personal relations have 
been, from the breaking out of the rebellion to 
the present day, and your support of me in- 
dividually and of the army and its cause, such 
that no other idea presented itself stronger to 
my mind, on the first news of my election to the 
presidency, than that I should continue to have 
your advice and assistance. In parting with you, 
therefore, I do it with assurances of continued 
confidence in your ability, zeal, and friendship, 
and with the hope that you may soon be re- 
lieved from the physical disabilities under 
which you have labored for the last few years. 



59 



Hetter mx 



Washington^ D. C, 
April 9, 1869. 

Y7 HAVE been pained to learn that a man up- 
on whom I have conferred an appointment 
L± should have been a lobbyist to Congress 
(in the McGarrahan case), and, failing to get 
the vote he wished from the committee hav- 
ing the matter in charge, should become the 
traducer of the committee, which, it seems, 
were within one of being unanimous in their 
report. It seems that . . . has been acting in 
this way, and very much to the prejudice of 
Wilson particularly, the chairman of the com- 
mittee. It may be that ... is misrepresented 
in this matter, but I understand that the cor- 
respondents who are traducing Wilson give 
... as their authority. Now you know, and 
I presume . . . did, that there was no man in 
the Fortieth Congress for whom I had a high- 
er regard than for the Hon. J. F. Wilson, J 9 
and that he was one of the men whom I con- 
fidently hoped to have connected with my ad- 



60 



ministration. To have him slandered over my 
shoulders, I feel as I would to have you, who 
stood by me through evil as well as through 
good report, slandered in the same way. I do 
not believe you care to have with you as sec- 
retary of legation a man guilty of such con- 
duel. Of course this is presuming his guilt be- 
fore hearing the other side. I would be but too 
glad to have the report authentically contra- 
dicted. But as the matter stands now Wilson 
feels terribly aggrieved, and I think very justly 
so. . . . has no doubt read what the corre- 
spondents Piatt and Boynton have said in this 
matter, and knows how far they are sustained 
in them by his statements. His opinion of their 
opinion of the merits of the McGarrahan 
claim, or what they say about the report of the 
committee upon it, I have nothing to do with. 
The matter which concerns me is the state- 
ment that I have been influenced in my course 
toward Wilson by reason of dissatisfaction with 
his public acts, and that my notice has been 
called to them through some agency of . . . 



61 



JUtter XXX 




Washington, D. C, 
September 7, 1869. 

UR mutual and much esteemed friend, 
General Rawlins, expired yesterday, 
after, as you are aware, years of gradual 
decline. Although he has lived far beyond what 
his most sanguine friends hoped, yet his final 
taking off has produced a shock which would 
be felt for but few of our public men. He re- 
tained his consciousness up to within a few 
minutes of his death. Although I was not with 
him in his dying hours, I am told that his 
greatest concern seemed to be for his destitute 
family. I was at Saratoga when his rapid de- 
cline commenced. The first dispatch I received 
indicating any immediate danger was on Satur- 
day evening, or night, after the last train had 
left. I was compelled to remain until Sunday 
evening, and arrived consequently about forty 
minutes after he had breathed his last. 
I have been intending for months to write you, 
and have no special excuse for not doing so, 



62 



except that when I do get alone for an hour I 
always happen to have something to do. Whilst 
I have been away this summer I have been 
very much let alone by people who have an 
axe to grind, but there has scarcely ever been 
a minute when there were not callers. You will 
see by the official statements that the first six 
months of the administration have been suc- 
cessful in improving the revenue collections, 
and somewhat in reducing expenses. The show- 
ing is a reduction of forty-nine million of the 
public debt. The actual decrease is greater. 
McCulloch 20 kept no interest account, conse- 
quently on the 4th of March no interest due 
that day, or coupons overdue but not presented 
for payment, appeared as a part of the public 
debt. We have actually paid about six million 
in gold of old coupons which the statements 
give no credit for. In addition to this, we have 
paid probably as much as two million in cur- 
rency on contracts fulfilled and purchases made 
before the 1st of March, which is another dead 
horse paid for. 



63 



^letter mi 



Washington, D. C, 
January 28, 1870. 

T7 RECEIVED your interesting personal 
I letter a day or two ago, and snatch a few 
*-* moments to answer it. In reality I have no 
quiet time in which to write letters, scarcely 
to read the current news of the day. The con- 
tinuous press of people continues yet about as 
it was last spring. You will see by the papers 
that the ratification of the Fifteenth Amend- 
ment is assured. With this question out of poli- 
tics, and reconstruction completed, I hope to 
see such good feeling in Congress as to secure 
rapid legislation and an early adjournment. My 
peace is when Congress is not in session. My 
family are all well and wish to be remembered 
to Mrs. Washburn, the children, and yourself. 
The Emperor has been kind enough to send 
me pleasant messages several times, which 
please say to him have been duly received and 
are highly appreciated. Please convey to him 
my best wishes for a continuance of his good 



64 



health and the happiness and prosperity of the 
people over whom he has been called to rule. 
It has been the desire of my life to visit Europe 
and particularly France, but so far I have been 
too busy. If spared to get through my present 
office, I shall take a year or two to visit those 
parts of the world I have not yet seen. 



65 



better vxxii 



Washington, D. C, 
July 10, 1870. 

Y7 HAVE received your recent letters, two 
in regard to General Robert Anderson. I 
Li do not know how anything can be done for 
the general at present, but I do know, or at 
least feel, that the American people will never 
permit his family to suffer. Should the worst 
happen, the general and his family will be 
taken care of. I would start the matter, and 
what is or has been done for Rawlins 1 and Stan- 
ton's families would probably be done for Gen- 
eral Anderson's. 

Congress is soon to adjourn. The reflection is 
almost a compensation for the suffering en- 
dured during its session. If it were not for the 
feeling of loyalty of the people, and the almost 
certainty that a Democratic success would be 
repudiation and surrender to old Southern lead- 
ers, there is but little doubt but that the 
Republican party would lose control of the 
country at the next election. Lack of attention 



66 



to material interests, wrangling among them- 
selves, dividing and allowing the few Demo- 
crats to be the balance to fix amendments to 
every important measure (and voting against 
the whole bill when brought to a vote), attack- 
ing each other and the administration when 
any individual's views were not conformed to, 
has put the party in a very bad light. I think 
everything will be right two years hence, and 
that members see the errors they have com- 
mitted. I shall hope so at least. If we had had 
a short session of Congress, and harmonious, 
the party would never have been on as strong 
a footing as now. All that was necessary to do 
was to pass the appropriation bills, admit the 
outstanding States, pass a funding bill and 
promise the people a reduction of eighty mill- 
ion of taxes at their next session. We could 
well spare that amount if the public debt bore 
but five per cent. 



6 7 



JLctter xmii 



Long Branch, N. jf. y 
August 22, 1870. 

WHEN I wrote to you last, although 
it was but a few days before the dec- 
laration of war by France, I had no 
idea that such an event was even threatening. 
I was taken by surprise, as Napoleon admits 
he was in one of [King] William's attacks. 
The result, if we read right in our papers, has 
surprised me. I supposed from the declaration 
of war coming from the French they would be 
all ready, while the Prussians might not be 
fully so, and therefore, at the beginning, the 
French would have it all their own way. The 
Prussian military system is so perfect, however, 
that I believed singlehanded they would be too 
much for the French in the end. The war has 
developed the fad: here that every unrecon- 
structed rebel sympathizes with France, with- 
out exception, while the loyal element is al- 
most as universally the other way. Poor Napo- 
leon, I suppose, will retire to private life. 



68 



^Letter xxjctii 

Washington, D. C, 
May 26, 1872. 

T7 WROTE you a long letter just before 
the meeting of the Cincinnati Conven- 
H tion, but as I did not complete it before 
that event, and as most of the letter was upon 
the subject of that convention, I did not send 
it. The work has been done, and no one is 
satisfied but Greeley himself and a few Tam- 
many Republicans who expect office under 
him, if he is elected, and who know that under 
no other man could they be appointed to office. 
I predict that Greeley will not even be a can- 
didate when the election comes off. The De- 
mocracy are not going to take him, and his 
following in the Republican ranks is not suffi- 
cient to make up an electoral ticket, nor is it 
composed of respectability enough to put on 
such a ticket. His nomination has had a good 
effect, however. It has apparently harmonized 
the party by getting out of it the "soreheads" 
and knaves who made all the trouble because 



69 



they could not control. The movement was 
egged on by the Democrats, the rank and file 
acting in good faith, until now the effect 
upon them is just what the leaders intended it 
should be upon the Republicans ; it is dividing 
their party. Many of the Democratic papers, 
particularly in the South, have committed 
themselves so thoroughly that they will have 
to go to Baltimore on the 9th of July in sup- 
port of Greeley. Many others will go there to 
break up the Cincinnati ticket by putting one 
of its candidates at the tail of a new ticket, and 
Adams, Davis, or Trumbull at the head. The 
old Hunkers will fight all such movements, 
and, in my judgment, will carry the day, but 
will create great disaffe&ion in their ranks. 
We will soon see how my prediction comes 
out. 



7° 



better xxx* 



Long Branch, N. J., 
August 26, 1872. 

YOUR confidential letter relating to 
the probable position of Curtin 21 
was received during my last visit to 
Washington. He, Curtin, probably arrived 
in New York city yesterday, Sunday; but 
there is no communication between this and 
the outside world on Sunday except by tele- 
graph, so that I do not know positively. I 
expect him to come and see me as soon as he 
does arrive, though I know he will be met on 
arrival, and everything possible will be offered 
him to corrupt him. The Greeleyites will be 
as liberal in their offers to him as Satan was to 
our Saviour, and with as little ability to pay. 
Curtin's defection would probably cost us the 
State of Pennsylvania in October, so far as 
the Governor and Legislature are concerned, 
but without him the Congressmen at large, 
three of them, and Judge of the Superior 
Court and other officers on the State ticket 



71 



would be elected, and we would carry the 
State in November. 

I do not often indulge in predictions, but I 
have had a feeling that Greeley might not even 
be in the field in November. If he is, I do not 
think he will carry a single Northern State. In 
the South I give him Tennessee and Texas, 
with Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Ken- 
tucky, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas doubt- 
ful, with the chances in our favor in all of 
them except Maryland. Missouri might also 
be added to the doubtful States. 22 This is the 
way matters look now, but they may be modi- 
fied before November. We "shall see what we 
shall see" before long. 



72 



better otW 



Washington^ D. C, 
Qttober 25, 1872. 

YOUR letter of the nth Oaober is 
just received, and I hasten to answer, 
as you request. I think it very doubt- 
ful about my going to Galena for the election, 
though I may do so. My judgment now is 
that the prediction which I made to you about 
the result of the November election will prove 
nearly right. Maryland, West Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Texas will 
probably cast their votes for Mr. Greeley. 
Missouri may do the same thing. It would not 
if we could have a fair election throughout the 
State. Some counties in that State are as bad as 
any portion of Georgia, and may lose us the 
electoral vote. Virginia is also a possible State 
for Mr. Greeley, though the chances are in our 
favor. 



73 



better wxW 



Long Branch, N. jf. y 
August 23 , 1875. 

Y7 HAVE been intending for a long time to 
write to you, but I have so got out of the 
i 1 way of writing social letters that I have not 
now left a single correspondent — not even in 
my own family — except on official business. I 
have nothing now special to say further than 
that I am always glad to hear from you. In 
political matters you keep posted through the 
press, and are no doubt struck with the chronic 
annual scare of the Republicans lest the Demo- 
crats should get into power. Just now the Ohio 
election is frightening them. They seem to feel 
as though the loss of Ohio this fall would in- 
sure a Democratic victory next year and lead 
to inflation of the currency, repudiation, the 
undoing of all that has been accomplished by 
the War and Republican Administrations in 
the way of reconstruction, and national dis- 
grace. I take a much more hopeful view of the 
situation. I am anxious, of course, to see the 



74 



Republicans carry Ohio. But if they should 
not I would not feel in the least discouraged. 
The fact is that while Ohio is sound by one 
hundred thousand majority on the financial 
issue, and the Republicans have not a sound 
platform on that issue, and the Democrats a 
very unsound and dishonest one, if Ohio is lost 
in this election it will be on this question 
alone. So much time elapses between nomina- 
tions and elections that the Democrats will all 
be whipped into line on the ground that the 
question now at issue is only which of the two 
parties they would rather see control the State. 
They are not voting for an executive of the 
nation, nor for lawmakers who can legislate on 
the subject of national finances. In the Repub- 
lican ranks there are very many men who are 
in debt, or whose business has slackened, that 
think an abundant currency would help them 
out of their difficulties, and who will not vote, 
or if they do vote, it will be against their party. 
I believe that if the Democratic party carries 
Ohio this fall, it will give the repudiationists — 
for inflation means repudiation — such a pres- 
tige in the nominating convention next year 
that the hard-money men of the party, includ- 



75 



ing all from the Pacific Coast, all New Eng- 
land, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
Maryland, Texas, and some from other States, 
will split and put up two tickets as they did in 
i860. If so, the race in 1876 will be an easy 
one. With a contrary result there will prob- 
ably be but two tickets, both on a moderately 
sound financial platform. 
I did not think of writing so much of a poli- 
tical letter as I have done, but it may interest 
you to hear private views on this subject On 
the question of candidates for next year there 
seems to be nothing definite to base a predic- 
tion upon as to who will be the standard 
bearers. 



76 



JUttet xxx^iii 



M 



17, Cavendish Square^ London^ 
June 9, 1877. 

Y stay in London has been more pro- 
trailed than I had intended, or will be 
before my accepted engagements are 
fulfilled. I have accepted invitations for every 
day up to and including the 26th of this 
month. On the 28th of June I will be at a 
banquet to be given in Liverpool. Within a few 
days of that time, most likely on the first day 
of July, I will be in Paris on my way to Swit- 
zerland. My stay will probably not reach more 
than a day or two beyond the 4th of July in 
Paris. The reception I have had in England so 
far has been very gratifying, and I think very 
complimentary to our country. I recognize the 
fact that it is more for the country all the com- 
pliments I am receiving are intended, than for 
me personally. 

I will send my courier to Paris to secure 
quarters for our short stay, or will get General 
Torbert to do this for me. I will be compelled 



77 






to be very moderate in my expenditures, to cor- 
respond with my means. In facT:, the extent of 
my visit abroad will depend entirely on how 
long I can stay upon the limited capital I have 
brought with me. 



78 



Hetter mix 



17, Cavendish Square^ London^ 
June 16, 1877. 

Y7 SHALL follow your advice in regard to 
I my visit to Paris. I will pass through on my 
*A way to Switzerland, possibly staying over 
two or three days in the city, but having it 
understood that I am only passing now, but 
will visit there again about the last of October 
— middle to last — when I will stay some six 
weeks. I have written to Mr. Harps, who was 
kind enough to invite me to a garden party on 
my arrival, to the same effect, saying, how- 
ever, that I should be guided entirely by your 
judgment as to whether I should accept any 
invitations until my return in the fall. I will 
probably go over to Paris on the 6th of July, 
but will telegraph or write you the exact time 
of my departure. 

The railroad company here has been kind 
enough to ask me to accept a special train to 
Dover, and from Calais to Paris, which will 
probably put me in advance of the regular train. 



79 



JLetter vl 



1 6, Beaufort Gardens, London, 
June 22, 1877. 

EHAVE determined to leave here for Paris 
on my way to Switzerland on the 5th of 
July. The Eastern Railroad Company have 
been kind enough to put a special train and 
boat at my service, which will put us through 
from London to Paris in eight hours. I want, 
as you advise, to have it understood that for 
the present I will be in Paris this time simply 
in transitu, and will make my visit of several 
weeks at a later period, probably about the 
middle or last of Od^ober. My party will con- 
sist of Mrs. Grant and maid, Jesse and myself, 
and a courier who will look out for himself. 
Our stay will not extend three days. You were 
kind enough to propose to engage apartments 
for us during our short stay j will you be good 
enough to take them according to the above 
programme, and advise me before my arrival. 



80 



Hetter ?lt 



Gebruder Drexel, Ho/lifer ant en, Frankfurt, 
July 19, 1877. 

YOUR letter expressing regret that you 
could not be at the dinner given last 
evening reached me in the afternoon 
too late to answer until this a. m. The dinner 
was a most pleasant affair, and the grounds 
about where it was given surpass anything I 
have ever seen for beauty and exquisite taste 
horticulturally. I am sorry you could not be 
here, but understand how impossible it is under 
the circumstances, having a family to move for 
the summer, to start off at a moment's notice. 
I must leave here on Monday next to carry out 
my designs. I go direct from here to Luzerne, 
Switzerland, to commence the tour of that 
country. Having delayed so by the way I will 
have to be satisfied with a couple of weeks in 
Switzerland. It is my intention to visit Den- 
mark, Norway and Sweden, so as to return to 
Scotland by the last week in August, to do up 
that part of the island of Great Britain. I will 



81 



not be in Paris now before the middle to the 
last of October. I hope I may meet you there 
at that time. 

If Mr. Davis, our Minister to Germany, is 
with you, please say to him for me that I re- 
ceived his very kind note at the same time I 
did yours. If he goes to Switzerland I shall 
hope to meet him there, and also Mrs. Davis. 
But I would not have him go to Berlin on 
my account. If there at all this summer it will 
be but for a single day on my return this way, 
and then to pay a longer visit to the German 
capital; possibly I may do so this fall after my 
visit to Scotland. 



82 



^Letter xlii 



Par'tSy 
OSfober 7, 1878. 

T7 AM just in receipt of your very welcome 
I letter of the 23d of September. I have no 
IX recollection of receiving a letter from you 
written about the time of your departure from 
Paris. I am sure I should have answered, had 
such a letter reached me. The last communica- 
tion I remember anything of was either a letter 
or dispatch — the latter, I think — received by 
me at Frankfort, in answer to mine stating the 
time I would remain there. I was very sorry 
not to meet you there. 

As you say, it is bliss to be out of the United 
States just at a time when all the bad elements 
in the country are seemingly carrying every- 
thing before them. It is to be hoped, and I 
think confidently to be relied upon, that all the 
isms will have run their course before 1880. It 
is incomprehensible that men — not to say a 
majority — could be found who are willing to 
upset the country financially just at a time 



83 



when we have got so near to specie payments, 
when we have established the highest credit 
known among nations, and when general pros- 
perity to the country is just dawning. The 
whole Democratic party cried itself hoarse over 
the outrage upon the Constitution when the 
nation, in its desperation, adopted the "legal 
tender note." Every Democratic judge upon 
the supreme bench, I believe, gave a judicial 
opinion against the constitutionality of the act, 
and every Republican member of the court 
sustained it only on the ground of imperative 
necessity, a means to save the nation's life, on 
the ground of self-defense and self-preserva- 
tion justifying the means. Now the whole 
party seems to be willing to issue an unlimited 
quantity of this money in spite of their pre- 
vious declaration, in spite of the solemn promise 
that above a certain amount — 400,000,000 — 
should not be issued, in spite of the solemn ob- 
ligation that those issued should be redeemed 
in coin, understood at the time to be gold coin. 
I believe I am right in this statement of the 
views of the Supreme Court on the money 
question. . . . 
We leave here in a few days for Spain and 



84 



Portugal. When we have visited those coun- 
tries we will have been in every country in 
Europe, and a little of Africa and Asia. I have 
enjoyed it all very much, but often feel home- 
sick to get back. If I should go back now, how- 
ever, I would have no home to go to. In the 
spring I would have my Long Branch home, 
where I could stay through the summer and 
make arrangements for the winter. Mrs. Grant 
joins me in kindest regards to Mrs. Washburn 
and the children, as well as to yourself. I will 
always be glad to hear from you, and hope I 
shall not prove negligent in answering. 



85 



JLetter jrltif 



Paris, 
December 24, 1 8 78. 

YOUR very welcome letter of Novem- 
ber the 24th was awaiting me here on 
my return to Paris some ten days 
since. I was very glad to hear from you again, 
but sorry to learn the cause of the detention of 
your family East this winter. I hope your 
daughter is improving, and that she will soon 
be restored to entire health. 
You have seen by the papers that I have de- 
termined to go home by India, China, and Ja- 
pan. This will not probably delay my return, 
but it will land me in San Francisco about the 
time 1 expected to reach Philadelphia — say 
the last of June. If we get to San Francisco as 
early as that or nearly so, I shall want to re- 
main on the Pacific coast six weeks or two 
months. I spent two years there in early life, 
and always felt the greatest desire to make it 
my future home. Nothing ever fell over me 
like a wet blanket so much as my promotion 



86 



to the lieutenant-generalcy. As junior major- 
general in the regular army I thought my 
chances good for being placed in command of 
the Pacific division when the war closed. As 
lieutenant-general all hope of that kind van- 
ished. You wrote me that you had been all 
over the Pacific coast before, and how much 
interested you were in that country. 
I anticipate great pleasure from the trip before 
me. The feci: is, I take much more interest in 
seeing countries but seldom visited by foreign- 
ers than in seeing those where one comes but 
little in contact with others than those foreign 
to the soil visited. I shall endeavor to profit by 
the journey, even if I should write nothing. So 
far I have abstained from giving my views 
about the institutions and people of the coun- 
tries I have already visited. The fact is, how- 
ever, that I have seen nothing to make me re- 
gret that I am an American. Our country, its 
resources, the energy, ingenuity, and intelli- 
gence of the people, etc., is more appreciated 
abroad than at home. If our politicians and 
people could see us as others see us, and see 
how much better off all producing classes are 
with us than in the most favored nation of 



87 



Europe, they would have much less to com- 
plain of and more to be thankful for. 
I am much pleased with the result of the No- 
vember elections. It seems to me to put the 
Republican party right for 1880. Providence 
seems to direct that something should be done 
just in time to save the party of progress and 
national unity and equality. The Potter in- 
vestigating committee and the financial ques- 
tion did it the last time. 

My mails for two months from this time should 
be sent to United States Consul, Bombay. I 
shall always be pleased to hear from you. 



88 



^Letter jclft 



Singapore^ Straits Settlements^ 
April 4, 1879. 

INCE my last letter to you I have seen 
much of the world new to me, and but 
little visited by our countrymen. The 
reality is different from my anticipations as to 
climate, characteristics of the natives, the gov- 
ernments that have been forced upon them, 
etc., etc. My idea had been rather that English 
rule in this part of the globe was purely selfish, 
all for the benefit of " Old England " and pam- 
pered sons sent here to execute laws enacted at 
home, and nothing for the benefit of the gov- 
erned. I will not say that I was all wrong, but 
I do say that Englishmen are wise enough to 
know that the more prosperous they can make 
the subject, the greater consumer he will be- 
come, and the greater will be the commerce 
and trade between the home government and 
the colony, and greater the contentment of the 
governed. This quarter is governed on that 
theory, and, as far as my opportunities have 



89 



given me the power to judge, by a most dis- 
creet, able, and well-chosen set of officials. My 
opinion is that if the English should withdraw 
from India and the East, they would scarcely 
get off the soil before the work of rapine and 
murder and wars between native chiefs would 
begin. The retrograde to absolute barbarism 
would be more rapid than progress toward civ- 
ilization is possible ; it would be almost instan- 
taneous. As Mr. Young, who is traveling with 
me, gives accurate and detailed accounts of 
every place we visit, and all we see, nothing of 
this sort is necessary from me. I keep somewhat 
careful notes, however, — have since leaving 
Paris for the East, — but doubt whether I shall 
ever use them further than for my own refer- 
ence. 

The weather is getting very warm in this sec- 
tion, and we must expect a good deal of it be- 
fore we get to a cool climate. In a few days 
we start for Bangkok, Siam, and return here — 
within a degree of the equator — to take steam- 
er for Hong Kong. I shall then visit Chinese 
ports as far north as Shanghai, and possibly go 
to Pekin before visiting Japan. It looks now as 
if we would reach San Francisco as early as 



90 



August. I am both homesick and dread going 
home. I have no home, but must establish one 
after I get back. I do not know where. 



9i 



better tftj 



Government House^ Hong Kong^ 
May 4, 1879. 

T7 AM just in receipt of your letter of the 
4th of February from San Antonio. I was 
11 in San Antonio in December, 1845, when 
it was but little else than a Mexican town and 
isolated from all settlements. From Corpus 
Christi to San Antonio there was not a family 
except a few Mexican settlers along the San 
Antonio River for some miles below the town. 
From there to Austin there was not a habita- 
tion except at New Bensfelt, which had been 
colonized, I think, that year. 
We are now on the homestretch, letters going 
much quicker to America by the East than by 
the West. Up to this time myself and party 
have had the same hearty welcome and kind 
hospitalities as we experienced throughout In- 
dia. It promises to be the same thing through 
China and Japan. At this place I have received 
official notification from both governments of 
their desire to make my stay among them as 



92 



pleasant as possible. This is really the most 
beautiful place I have yet seen in the East. 
The city is admirably built and the scenery is 
most picturesque. The harbor is made by the 
irregular high land on the main shore and in- 
numerable islands coming up out of the sea 
and rising to a height of from 500 to 1,700 
feet above. We go to-morrow to Canton, 
thence to Shanghai and Pekin. On the way we 
will make short stops at several China sea- 
ports. I expecl: to reach Yokohama about the 
last of June, and San Francisco late in August. 
I expecl: to remain on the Pacific for some 
weeks, and then go to Galena to remain until 
the weather gets cold. Where we will spend 
the winter I have not determined. We may go 
to Florida and Havana. 



93 



better xM 



Nikko, Japan^ 
July 23, 1879. 

OME weeks since I received your letter 
written after you had received mine from 
Bombay. You had not received one from 
me written after your suggestion had been re- 
ceived to go to Galena on my return home. I 
answered that letter, saying that I should go 
there, and presume you received it after yours 
was written. Lest you may not have received 
it, however, I repeat that it has been my in- 
tention to go to Galena on my return. 
Since my last to you I have visited the princi- 
pal seacoast cities in China, and Pekin in the 
interior, and have now been nearly a month in 
this most interesting country and among these 
interesting people. China stands where she did 
when her ports were first opened to foreign 
trade. I think I see dawning, however, the be- 
ginning of a change. When it does come China 
will rapidly become a powerful and rich nation. 
Her territory is vast and is full of resources, 



94 



agricultural, mineral ; iron, coal, copper, silver, 
and gold, besides nearly every other metal, 
abound as they do with us. The population is 
industrious, frugal, intelligent, and quick to 
learn. They are natural artisans and trades- 
men. From Bombay to Hong Kong they mo- 
nopolize all the trades — mechanical — the mar- 
ket gardening, trucking, stevedoring, small 
shopkeeping, etc., and are rapidly driving out 
the larger merchants. They cannot do so well, 
however, in their own country. They must 
have the protection of a better and more hon- 
est government to succeed. Neither the coun- 
try, cities, nor people present attractions to 
invite the traveller to make a second visit. 
Japan is different. The country is beautiful 
beyond description. Every street and every 
house is as clean as they can be made. Good 
water prevails everywhere and it is freely used. 
The progress that has been made in the last 
dozen years is almost inconceivable. Free 
schools abound all over the land, giving facili- 
ties for every child, male and female, to get a 
fair education. Attendance is almost compul- 
sory between certain ages. In the cities they 
have academies, colleges, and normal schools, 



95 



both to prepare males and females. It has been 
my privilege to visit at Tokio (Yeddo) their 
military and naval academies, their school of 
science, their college, their normal school for 
young ladies, a very large school for children, 
taught by female teachers prepared at the nor- 
mal school, and other places of learning. The 
two former compare very well with our own 
military and naval academies in course taught, 
discipline, drill, and progress of the students. 
A student to enter the school of science must 
be a good English scholar, and after entering 
all his text books and recitations are in Eng- 
lish. 

The course is six years, the last two in appli- 
cation of what they learned in the first four. 
A portion of each year — taking the place of 
vacation with us — is also spent in the work- 
shops, making parts of machinery, models of 
engines, of looms, machinery for spinning and 
weaving, etc., etc. Many of their teachers are 
natives, though the studies are in English. It 
will be but a few years before they will be able 
to dispense with foreign instruction entirely. 
We leave for home by the " City of Tokio," 
which will sail from Yokohama about the 27th 



96 



of August. I shall be glad to be settled down 
at home. . . . 

I forgot to mention that students to enter the 
college must study English five years first, 
making a nine-year course. Here, too, they 
have one or two native professors. 



97 



better jrttrit 



Philadelphia^ Pennsylvania^ 
December 22, 1879. 

INCE my arrival here I have scarcely 
had time to read my mail, much less 
answer it. The people of Philadelphia 
have shown a cordiality unsurpassed, but they 
have kept me so constantly going that I have 
not been able to see what the papers say about 
it. But I suppose it is all reported. I have de- 
termined to leave here for the South on Satur- 
day next. I hope you can go along. I rather 
expect Sheridan and Fred and their wives. But 
this is not yet certain. We will remain in 
Washington over Sunday and Monday, so our 
start will really be from there on Tuesday the 
30th. I have seen Mr. DeFranch. I did not 
look at his letters, because I had not the time, 
and I knew what they contained from persons 
who did see them. They amount substantially 
to a promise of funds for the construction of a 
canal if all the conditions are right. I expressed 
my interest in the enterprise, and the interest 



98 



I had taken in it for a good many years, and 
my willingness to aid it all I could so long as 
it seemed to be in honest hands; but that I 
could give no promise of further connection 
with it than my good offices until a proper 
concession was obtained, the money subscribed, 
and every preliminary arranged to insure the 
completion of the work, and then I would de- 
termine whether I would take a more active 
part. After all other preliminaries are arranged 
it will take a complete working season in the 
tropics to determine positively whether the un- 
dertaking is entirely practicable or not. 
If you do not go South with us I will write 
you again from Florida. 



99 



Jtetter jcttmi 



St. Augustine, Florida^ 
yanuary 18, 1880. 

T7 WROTE you a hasty letter from Phila- 
I delphia, but do not know whether you re- 
*-* ceived it. Our trip through the South has 
been, so far, without an incident to mar the 
pleasure of it. All the way from Washington 
the people of all classes and colors were at the 
stations to meet the train and to extend invita- 
tions for myself and party to stop and accept 
their hospitalities. The business boom has 
reached the South, and the people are begin- 
ning to feel much better contented in conse- 
quence. I am very much pleased with Florida. 
The winter climate is perfection, and I am 
told by Northern men settled here that the 
summers are not near so hot here as in the 
North, though of longer continuance. This 
State has a great future before it. It has the 
capacity to raise all the sugar and semi-tropical 
fruits the whole country needs, besides supply- 
ing vast amounts of timber, early vegetables, 



100 



nice material for paper, rope, bagging, coarse 
matting, etc. It affords the best opening to be 
found in any country for young men of little 
means but full of energy, industry, and patience. 
The impetus given already will supply in a few 
years all the semi-tropical fruits required by the 
country. What is now wanted is the establish- 
ment of moderate sugar mills over the country, 
to buy all the sugar cane small farmers will 
furnish. The State is underlayed and has around 
it deposits of valuable fertilizers sufficient for 
many generations. If you do not join me in 
Cuba I hope you will come here to spend 
March and April. I do not doubt but you 
would receive much benefit from the visit. 
I will sail from Cedar Keys for Havana on the 
20th. The Secretary of the Navy has placed 
at Havana a vessel at my command. I think I 
shall make an excursion to Hayti, St. Domin- 
go, Porto Rico, and Jamaica, and swing around 
by Yucatan, so as to reach Vera Cruz about 
the 15th of February. When I return it will 
be by the way of Galveston and Denver. At 
the latter place and in Colorado generally I 
expect to stop until the weather is pleasant in 
Galena, say about the 10th of May. I shall be 



101 



very much pleased to meet you in Havana and 
have you go on this trip to the West Indies, 
if you are sailor enough to enjoy the excursion. 



102 



iUtter xlix 

Havana, Cuba, 25 
February 2, 1880. 

YOUR letter of the 25th of January is 
just received. The same mail brings 
New York papers of the 29th, by 
which I see you were in that city at that time. 
Your letter directed to me in Washington 
city was received there, but I neglected to 
mention it. I see by the papers the same that 
you mention about ... I predict that it will 
do him no good, and as far as it may affect me I 
care nothing about it. All that I want is that the 
government rule should remain in the hands 
of those who saved the Union until all the 
questions growing out of the war are forever 
settled. I would much rather any one of many 
I could mention should be President rather 
than that I should have it. On that subjecT: I 
stand just as I told you in Chicago. I shall not 
gratify my enemies by declining what has not 
been offered. I am not a candidate for any- 
thing, and if the Chicago convention nomi- 



103 



nates a candidate who can be elected, it will 
gratify me, and the gratification will be greater 
if it should be some one other than myself. In 
confidence I will tell you I should feel sorry 
if it should be . . . Blaine I would like to see 
elected, but I fear the party could not elect 
him. He would create enthusiasm, but he would 
have opposition in his own party that might 
lose him some Northern States that the Re- 
publicans should carry. 

My reception here has been more than cordial 
by both officials and the people. The weather 
is sultry, just such as we run from at home in 
the dog days. If this winter is a sample, Flor- 
ida is a much better winter resort. 
Please present Mrs. Grant's and my best re- 
gards to Mrs. Washburn and your family, 
with the same to yourself. I shall be pleased to 
hear from you in the City of Mexico. 



104 



^Letter I 



Galveston^ Texas y 
March 25, 1880. 

YOUR letter of the nth of February- 
only reached Mexico by the mail but 
one before my departure. I was away 
from the City of Mexico at the time on an 
excursion to the Rio Del Monte silver mines, 
and did not return until after the departure of 
the steamer bringing it. Yours of the 26th of 
February was taken by the steamer on which 
I returned. There was no opportunity of an- 
swering either, therefore, earlier, or so that you 
could receive it earlier than by writing from 
here. 

In regard to your suggestion that I should 
authorize some one to say that in no event 
would I consent to ever being a candidate after 
1880, I think any statement from me would 
be misconstrued, and would only serve as a 
handle for my enemies. Such a statement might 
well be made after the nomination, if I am 
nominated in such a way as to accept. It is a 



105 



matter of supreme indifference to me whether 
I am or not. There are many persons I would 
prefer should have the office to myself. I owe 
so much to the Union men of the country that 
if they think my chances are better for elec- 
tion than for other probable candidates in case 
I should decline, I cannot decline if the nomi- 
nation is tendered without seeking on my part. 
Mexico shows many signs of progress since I 
was there thirty-two years ago. Railroads are 
pushing out slowly from the capital, and with 
every advance greater prosperity and employ- 
ment for the poor follow. I think it should be 
the policy of our government now to cultivate 
the strongest feelings of friendship between the 
people of the two republics. Soon we will have 
railroad connection between the two countries, 
and our people will begin to mix and become 
better acquainted. Mexico can, and will, raise 
all the tropical and semi-tropical products 
which we now buy from countries that take 
nothing from us in exchange, except sterling 
exchange, and will take from us in return the 
products of our manufacturers. Americans are 
beginning now to work their mines. Soon they 
will be cultivating their sugar, coffee, and to- 



06 



bacco plantations, running their factories, do- 
ing their banking, etc. I go to San Antonio 
for a day or two, thence to New Orleans, and 
up the river to Memphis. I will probably run 
over to Hot Springs from the latter place, to 
absorb time until the weather in Galena be- 
comes pleasant. I do not care to arrive there 
before the first of May. 



107 



NOTES 



109 



Motts 



Letter I. Note i. . . . Mr. Rawlins . . . 
John A.Rawlins (i 8 31-1869), joined General Grant's 
staff in August, 1861, and served with him to the close 
of the rebellion. He became Secretary of War in March, 
1869. Grant was greatly attached to him, and deeply 
mourned his death. 

Letter II. Note 2. . . . Captain A. S. Bax- 
ter .. . 

While the world was honoring General Grant on the 
seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth, Algernon Sidney 
Baxter (1819-1897), one of the earliest members of his 
staff, was dying. He was a son of the Chief Justice of 
Vermont, and at the age of seventeen went to Boston, 
the Mecca of most New England boys. When the war 
began he was a merchant in St. Louis, where he became 
acquainted with Grant. He immediately abandoned 
business for the army, serving on the General's staff at 
Fort Donelson and Shiloh, with the rank of captain. 
At Shiloh, Baxter carried to General Lew Wallace 
that celebrated dispatch which has caused so much dis- 
pute. Grant, in his " Personal Memoirs," says : " Cap- 
tain Baxter, a quartermaster on my staff, was accord- 
ingly directed to go back and order General Wallace 
to march immediately to Pittsburg by the road nearest 
the river. Captain Baxter made a memorandum of this 



III 



order. . . . General Wallace has since claimed that the 
order delivered to him by the captain was simply to join 
the right of the army." Baxter's condition of health 
compelled him soon after to leave the service, when he 
entered Wall Street, pursuing a successful career in the 
great metropolis, where he died at the age of seventy- 
eight. He was the last survivor of those who served on 
Grant's staff in the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh. 

Letter III. Note 3. . . . Colonel C. C. Wash- 
burn . . . 

Cadwallader Colden Washburn (18 18-1882), colonel 
Second Wisconsin Cavalry, October 10, 1861; briga- 
dier general, July 16, 18625 and major general, No- 
vember 29, 1862. After the Civil War he was elecled 
to Congress and in 1872, became Governor of Wiscon- 
sin. Later he was an unsuccessful candidate for the 
United States Senate. His brother, also a Congress- 
man, wrote the family name with a final " e," but in 
no instance within the editor's knowledge did Grant 
ever add that letter when writing to Mr. Washburne. 

Letter III. Note 4. . . . Clarkesville . . . 
Suit was brought after the war for about one hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars by the owners of whiskey in 
Clarkesville, destroyed as a matter of precaution by a 
chosen committee, to prevent its falling into the hands of 
the victorious Northern army, said to be advancing on 
the town, — its commander being reported as intoxi- 
cated, and utterly unable to control his troops. The 



112 



owners brought suit in 1865 against the members of 
the committee, consisting of the wealthiest citizens 
of the town. At the first trial the jury disagreed as to 
whether Grant was drunk or sober, the decision in the 
case turning on that point j in the second the verdift 
was that the commander was intoxicated, and on the 
third trial that he was perfeclly sober, so that the com- 
mittee finally lost their case and were compelled to pay, 
but not the full value of the whiskey, as the parties 
compromised the case, receiving about twenty per cent, 
of its value. This statement was received in August, 
1897, by the writer, from a United States DistricT: 
Judge of Tennessee, who was one of the counsel em- 
ployed in the curious case. 

Letter V. Note 5. . . . in our present 
cause. 

About the same period the General says in a letter to 
his father: "You must not expett me to write in my 
own defence, nor to permit it from any one about me. 
I know that the feeling of the troops under my com- 
mand is favorable to me, and so long as I continue to 
do my duty faithfully it will remain so. I require no de- 
fenders." In his second inaugural address Grant gave 
expression to his sense of the injustice done to him by 
shameful and vindictive criticism, saying in conclusion, 
"Throughout the war and from my candidacy to the 
present office, in 1868, to the close of the last presiden- 
tial campaign, I have been the subject of abuse and 
slander, scarcely ever equalled in political history, which 



"3 



to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard, in view of 
your verdict, which I most gratefully accept as my vin- 
dication." 

Letter VII. Note 6. . . . Colonel Ransom. 
Thomas E. G. Ransom (1834-1864), major Eleventh 
Illinois Infantry, July 30, 1861 ; colonel, February 15, 
18625 and brigadier general, November 29, 1862. He 
was among the most gallant of our young volunteer 
officers of the Army of the Tennessee. 

Letter VIII. Note 7. . . . Mr. Leonard 
Swett . . . 

Leonard Swett (1825-1889), a successful Illinois lawyer 
and an intimate friend of President Lincoln, made the 
nomination speech for the latter in the Chicago Con- 
vention of i860, which the writer happened to hear, 
and in 1887 he delivered the oration at the unveiling 
of the Lincoln Statue in Chicago. During the war Mr. 
Swett had charge of a large number of cases for the 
Government, earning a high reputation both as a civil 
and as a criminal lawyer. He said to Grant at Cairo, " We 
are the lowest bidders and insist upon having the con- 
tract; if not, the matter will be placed before the Presi- 
dent;" to which the General calmly replied, "I shall 
buy the hay in open market at a lower rate than you 
offer it, and will transport the hay on your road [the 
Illinois Central], of which I shall take immediate pos- 
session." Grant then added, " If I find you in this mili- 
tary district at the expiration of twenty-four hours, you 



114 



will be imprisoned and probably shot." Hastening to 
Washington the indignant lawyer laid the matter be- 
fore Lincoln, who said, "Well, Swett, if I were in your 
place, I should keep out of Ulysses Simpson's baili- 
wick, for to the best of my knowledge and belief Grant 
will keep his promise if he catches you in Cairo. In 
fail, Leonard, you had better 'take to de woods,' as 
the colored brother remarked." Mr. Swett, who in later 
years became one of the General's greatest admirers, 
and who was one of the 306 that strongly urged 
Grant's nomination for a presidential third term, told 
this story as here related by the present writer. 

Letter X. Note 8. . . . Senator Wilson . . . 
Henry Wilson of Massachusetts (1811-1875), who in 
1872 was elected Vice-President of the United States 
on the ticket with General Grant. 

Letter X. Note 9. . . . Dana . . . 

Charles A. Dana (18 19-1897), Assistant Secretary of 

War, and late editor of the New York Sun. 

Letter X. Note 10. . . . Maltby . . . 
Jasper A. Maltby (1826-1867), lieutenant colonel 
Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry, August, 1861 ; colonel, 
November 29, 1862, and brigadier general, August 4, 
1863. 

Letter XII. Note 11. . . . Our troops be- 
haved most magnificently^ and have infliSIed on 



"5 



the enemy the heaviest blow they have received 
during the war. 

"After having broken the impedimenta which closed 
the passage of the Mississippi, it is again Grant," writes 
the Count of Paris of the victory at Chattanooga, " who 
has just opened the doors of Georgia. The Federal 
armies have at last found the warrior worthy to lead 
them. The bold and skilful manoeuvres which began 
in the valley of Lookout Mountain, and terminated a 
month later near the spot where Bragg and Davis had 
contemplated a Union army besieged at their feet, en- 
hance the glory of the conqueror of Vicksburg. He has 
proved that his mind, powerful to conceive, firm to exe- 
cute, is fertile in resources at the critical time." 

Letter XVI. Note 12. 

This cipher dispatch is included among the Grant- 
Washburne correspondence, and was probably sent to 
the latter by the General at the same time that the 
original was telegraphed to the President. 

Letter XX. Note 13. ... the completion of 
the medal . . . 

Presented to General Grant by Congress for the cap- 
ture of Vicksburg and opening the Mississippi River 
from Cairo to the Gulf of Mexico ; also for his great 
viclory at Chattanooga. 

Letter XXII. Note 14. . . . Mr. Stuart . . . 
George Hay Stuart (i 8 16-1 890), an opulent merchant 



16 



and philanthropist, of Philadelphia, who was twice 
offered a position in General Grant's Cabinet. 

Letter XXV. Note 15. . . . General 
Dix . . . 

John Adams Dix (1 798-1 879). Nominated as United 
States Minister to France. 

Letter XXV. Note 16. . . . that ever ema- 
nated from any President. 

The quarrel between President Johnson and the Re- 
publican majority in Congress was at this time at its 
height. Every bill vetoed by the President was passed 
over his veto. 

Letter XXV. Note 17. Jerry Black . . . 
Jeremiah S. Black (18 10-188 3), Attorney General in 
Buchanan's Cabinet, and the successor of General Cass 
as Secretary of State. 

Letter XXVIII. Note 18. . . . In accepting 
it I do so with regret that your health will not 
permit you to continue in the office or in some 
Cabinet position. 

Mr. Washburne was soon after appointed by General 
Grant American Minister to France. During the siege 
of Paris he remained at his post when many of the 
representatives of other powers fled from the city. 



117 



( 



Letter XXIX. Note 19. . . . Hon. J. F. 

Wilson . . . 

James F. Wilson (1828-1895), for two terms United 

States Senator from Iowa. 

Letter XXX. Note 20. . . . McCulloch . . . 
The Hon. Hugh McCulloch (1 808-1 895), Secretary of 
the Treasury in the administrations of Lincoln, John- 
son and Arthur. 

Letter XXXV. Note 21. . . . Curtin . . . 

Andrew Gregg Curtin (18 17-1894), was appointed 
Minister to Russia by General Grant in 1869. On his 
return in 1872 he earnestly supported Horace Greeley 
for the presidency. 

Letter XXXV. Note 22. . . . might also be 
added to the doubtful States. 

Mr. Greeley (181 1-1 872), carried only the six States of 
Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, 
and Texas. 

Letter XLIX. Note 23. Havana^ Cuba. 
Replying to an inquiry concerning the defences of 
Havana, the General in a communication to a friend 
writes a few years after the date of his letter from Cuba : 
"On my visit to Havana three years ago, I had an 
opportunity of seeing the forts and the armament. Both 
are formidable, and with additions that could easily be 



Il8 






made before any country could attack them, impreg- 
nable from direct attack. But I should not regard Ha- 
vana as a difficult place to capture with a combined 
army and navy. It would have to be done, however, by 
erTefting a landing elsewhere and cutting off land com- 
munications with the army, while the navy would per- 
form the same service on the water. The hostility of 
the native population to the Spanish authority would 
make this a comparatively easy task for any first-class 
power, and especially easy for the United States in case 
of a war with Spain." 



II 9 




121 



3JnDe? 


ADAMS, Charles Francis 


. 70 


Adams, Mrs. Charles Franc 


is . . 38 


Allen, Robert 


19, 20 


American people 


. 66 


Anderson, Robert 


. 66 


Army of the Tennessee 


. 28 


Arthur, Chester A. . 


. 118 


Hangkok, Si am 


. 90 


Baxter, Algernon S. 


3, HI, 112 


Black, Jeremiah S. 


• 52,117 


Blaine, James G. 


. 104 


Blair, Francis P. W. 


• 57 


Bombay, India . 


. 88,95 


Bragg, Braxton 


. 116 


British Rule in India 


viii 


Bowers, Theodore S. . 


. . 38 


Brown, Joseph E. 


• 53 


Buchanan's Cabinet 


• "7 


(cabinet position 


. 117 


Cairo, Illinois 


*> 3> 18, 19 


Calais, France . 


• 79 



123 





Call for Troops . 


• • 36 


Canton, China . 


• 93 


Carlyle, Thomas . 


X 


Cass, Lewis 


. 117 


Cedar Keys, Florida . 


. 101 


Christian Commission . 


. . 48 


Chattanooga, Battle of 


• 3 1 , "* 


Chattanooga, Tennessee 


• 3°, 3^32 


Chicago Convention 


. 114 


Chicago Nominations . 


. 103 


Chinese Ports 


. 90 


Christmas, 1865 


• 49 


Cincinnati Convention 


• 69 


Civil War, 1861-65 • 


. 112 


City of Mexico . 


104, 105 


City ofTokio 


. 96 


City Point, Virginia . 36, 37, 3 


*> 4', 43, 45 


Clarkesville, Tennessee 


5,112 


Cold Harbor, Virginia 


• 34 


Colorado ..... 


. IOI 


Confederate Government 


. 16 


Confederate States 


. 28 


Covington, Kentucky . 


14,15 


Corinth, Mississippi . 


10,13 


Corpus Christi, Texas . 


. 92 


Culpepper Court House 


• 33 


. _. 



124 



Cumberland River . .7 


Curious Trial 




. 112 


Curtin, Andrew G. 




71,118 


Davis, J. C. Bancroft 




. 82 


Davis, Jefferson 




. 116 


DeFranch, Mr. 




. 98 


Democratic Party 




75, 81 


Demcratic Success 




. 66 


Dickey, T Lyle . 




• 13 


Dix, John Adams 




52,117 


Divided North . 




• 38 


Dodge, Willliam E. . 




. 58 


Donelson, Fort . 


4,6, ill, 112 


lliastern Railway Company 


. 80 


East Tennessee . 






57 


English in India 






90 


European Tour . 






65 


JTederal Armies 






116 


Fifteenth Amendment 






64 


First Class Powers 






119 


Florida, Climate of 






100 


Fortieth Congress 






60 


Franco-German Wat- 






68 


Frankfort, Germany . 




81,83 


Fremont, John C. .... 2 

1 ^ 1 



125 



(jralena, Illinois 


47, 48, 50, 57, 73, 




93,94, 101, ^7 


Galveston, Texas 


. 101 


Georgetown, D. C. 


. . . 48 


Gladstone, William E. 


ix 


Grenada, Mississippi 


22 


Grant, Frederick D. . 


. . . 98 


Grant at Cairo . 


• U4, "5 


Grant, Anecdote of 


. 114 


Grant, Mrs. Julia D 


• 45,80,85,104 


Grant's Cabinet 


. 117 


Grant's Gold Medal 


. 116 


Grant's Nomination 


. 115 


Grant, U. S. vii, vii 


1, ix, in, 112, 113, 116 


Grant-Washburne Lex 


l ters . . .116 


Great Commanders 


viii 


Greeley, Horace 


69,70,72,73,118 


Greeleyites, The . 


. 71 


Grinnell, Moses H. 


. . . . 58 


Gulf of Mexico . 


. 116 


lialleck, Henry W. 


8,9,15,27 


Havana, Cuba . 


.93,101,102,103,118 


Havana easily taken 


in 


Hong-Kong, China 


. 90,92,95 


Hooker, Joseph . 


. 31 



126 



Howlett House . 


. 44 


Hunter, David 


. 24 


Illinois Central Railway 


• "4 


Illinois Infantry , Eleventh . 


16,114 


Illinois Infantry, Forty-fifth 


. 115 


Iuka, Battle of . 


22 


Japanese, The . 


viii 


James River 


• 43 


Jefferson City, Missouri 


1 


Jo Daveiss County 


. 48 


Johnson, Andrew . -52, 


57,117,118 


Johnson, Reverdy 


• 53 


Jones, J. Russell 


53,54 


Judah, General . 


. 13 


Lja Grange, Tennessee 


. 18 


Lee's Virginia Army . 


• 35 


Lieutenant-General 


• 33 


Lincoln, Abraham . . viii, 


3 6 >"4>"5 


Lincoln, Anecdote of . 


. 115 


Lincoln Administration 


. 118 


Lincoln Statue Address 


. 114 


Liverpool, England 


• 11 


London .... 


• 77,79,80 


Long Branch, N.J.. 


• 71,74,85 


Lookout Mountain 


. 31,116 



127 





McClellan, George B. 


8 


McCulloch, Hugh 


63,118 


McGarrahan Claim . 


60, 61 


McPherson, James B. 


24, 25 


Maltby, Jasper A. 


28, 115 


Maryland Raid 


• 37 


Meade, George G. 


• 41 


Memphis, Tennessee 


16, 22, 107 


Mexico progressing 


. 106 


Mexican Settlers 


• 92 


Mississippi River 


. 116 


Missionary Ridge 


• 3i 


Milwaukee, Wisconsin 


4 


Napoleon the Third . 


64,68 


Nashville, Tennessee . 


5 


New England Boys 


. in 


New Orleans, Louisiana 


55, 107 


New York City . 


• 49 


New Yorkers 


. . 58 


New York Papers 


• 103 


Nikko, Japan . 


• 94 


North and South 


. 28 


North American Review 


viii 


Northern Army . 


. 112 


Northern Illinois 


• 30 



128 



November Elections 


72,73,88 


Old England . 




. . 89 


Ottober Elections 




• SI 


r acific Coast . 




. 86 


Par is , Count of . 




. 116 


Paris 


77,79,8 


d, 82, 83, 86 


Paris, Siege of . 




. 117 


Peace Friends 




• 39 


Pekin, China 




90, 93, 94 


Pennsylvania 




. 71 


Personal Memoirs 




. in 


Philadelphia Cordiality 


. 98 


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 


47,86,98 


Pittsburg Landing 


. in 


Pope, John . 


• 14 


Porto Rico 


. 101 


Potomac, Army of the . 


. 27 


Potomac River . 


11 


Prentiss, Benjamin M. 


2 


Presidential Candidate 


. 105 


Prussian King . 


. 68 


Hanson, Thomas E. G. 


'7, "4 


Rawlins, John A. . . I 


, 24, 29, 45, 




62, 66, in 


Reconstruclion Measures 


52,55 



129 





Republican Administration ... 74 


Republican Party 




. 66 


Repudiationists . 




• 75 


Richmond, Virginia 




• • 36 


Rio del Monte . 




. 105 


Rosecrans, William S. 




22 


ut. Augustine, Florida 




. 100 


San Antonio, Texas 




92, 107 


San Antonio River 






. 92 


San Domingo 






. 101 


San Francisco 






• 86,90,93 


Saratoga, New York 






. 62 


Savannah, Tennessee 






6 


Scott, Winfield . 






• 37 


Semi-tropical Fruits 






. 106 


Seventeenth Corps 






• 34 


Shanghai, China 






9°, 93 


Sheridan, Philip H 






55,98 


Sherman, William T. . 






34,50 


Shiloh, Battle of 






in, 112 


Singapore Settlements 






. 89 


Slave- Hunters . 






. 40 


Sixteenth Corps . 






• 34 


Slocum, Henry W. 






• 34 


Southern Leaders 






. 66 


Spanish Authority 






. 119 



130 





Spain, War with 


. 119 




Staff Officers . 


• 33 




Stanton, Edwin M. . . vii 


i, 13^5, 66 




Stephens, Alexander H. 


. 28 




Stewart, Alexander T. 


. 58 




Stuart, George //...• 


48,116 




Supreme Court, United States 


• 84 




Swett, Leonard . 


l8, 21, II4 




Switzerland . 


77,79,8i 




Tennessee River 


• 7, 11 




Tokio(Teddo) . 


. 96 




Torbert, Alfred T. A. 


• 77 




Trumbull, Lyman 


. 70 




United States . 


. 83,119 




Vera Cruz., Mexico . 


. 101 




Vicksburg, Conqueror of 


. 116 




Vicksburg, Mississippi 


^7, 34 




Ivallace, Lewis 


in, 112 




Wallace, W. H. L. . 


• i3 




War Administration 


• 74 




Washburn, Cadwallader C. 4, 24 


,26,34,112 




Washburne, Elihu B. . 


vii, 117 




Washburne, Hempstead 


• vii, 5 




Washburne, Mrs. E. B. 46, 49 


,64,85,104 



J3 1 



Washington, D. C. 14, 43, 45, 47, 49, 52, 57, 
59, 60, 62, 64, 66, 69, 73, 100, 103 
Washington, George 
West Indies 
Western Tennessee 
White House 
Wilson, Henry . 
Wilson, James F. 
Wilson, James H. 
Wisconsin Cavalry, Second 

I ates, Richard. 
Yazoo Pass, Mississippi 
Yazoo River 
Yokohama, Japan 
Young, John Russell . 
Youngs Point, Mississippi 



. 102 
. 16 

• 52 
27 5 4i,"5 
60, 61, 118 

• 24 
. 112 

• 30 
23,24 
24,26 

93,96 
. 90 

• 23 



132 



Printed for Thomas Y. Crowell and Company, by 

D. B. Updike, The Merrymount Press 

104 Chestnut Street, Boston 



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